Outline

Gameful Learning

(5-minutes)

What is “gameful” learning?
Why is it important for student learning?

Puzzle Design

(15-minutes)

How do these activities look?
How were they designed?

Implementation

(5-minutes)

How are these activities used in class?

What is decodeR?

A hex sticker with rearranged letters spelling `decodeR`, placed on top of a code breaking puzzle board.

Why puzzles?

One white puzzle piece.

Well designed games emphasize engagement, persistence, and resilience in the face of setbacks. Games encourage players to act creatively, and collaboratively, to learn new content and skills, and to develop expertise (Hayward and Fishman 2020).

Self-Determination Theory

Learning occurs most naturally in environments which support the core psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Deci and Ryan 2012).
Specifically, environments where learners have the ability to:
- make meaningful choices about their environment
- feel skilled and that their skills are being developed by the presence of optimal challenges
- feel connected to others

When these psychological needs are met, learners experience greater intrinsic motivation, which can boost their creativity, attention, persistence, and satisfaction (Deci and Ryan 2012).

How do these activities look?

Kelly’s slides

Be sure to add this to a slide with the “warm-up” activities

In video games, players learn simple skills in low-stakes contexts that are then gradually strung together in increasingly complex sequences and scenarios. (Hayward and Fishman 2020)

How were these activities designed?

How are these activities used in class?

Low-stakes Assessment of Weekly Skills

Pre-work

Chapter reading
Concept quizzes
Small coding exercises

Class Day 1

Lecture / review (45-60 minutes)
decodeR activity (60-75 minutes)

Class Day 2

Short lecture / review
Formal lab assignment covering the week’s concepts / skills

How do students complete the activity?

Kelly

Completed independently
Can talk with classmates
Submit answer to Canvas

Allison

Completed in pairs, using pair-programming collaborative protocols
Once pair has a solution, each student submits the answer to Canvas
Students share “solution” file

Reviewing Solution Strategy

We do not review the student’s / group’s .qmd file, but you could!

Thank you!

We welcome contributions of more gameful activities!

https://github.com/kbodwin/decodeR

A hex sticker with rearranged letters spelling `decodeR`, placed on top of a code breaking puzzle board.

References

Deci, Edward L., and Richard M. Ryan. 2012. “Self-Determination Theory.” In, 416–37. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446249215.n21.

Hayward, C., and B. Fishman. 2020. Gameful Learning: Designing with Motivation in Mind. Edited by M. Gresalfi and I. S. Horn. Vol. 2. International Society of the Learning Sciences.